Mark’s rapidly expanding list of books includes Building a PC For Dummies, Scanners For Dummies, CD and DVD Recording For Dummies, Mac OS X All-in- One Desk Reference For Dummies, Micros
Trang 2PCs All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, 2nd Edition
Copyright © 2003 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8700 Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4447, e-mail:
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Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the
Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of Wiley Publishing, Inc., in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned
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Trang 3About the Author
Mark L Chambers has been an author,
com-puter consultant, BBS sysop, programmer, andhardware technician for more than 20 years.(In other words, he’s been pushing computersand their uses far beyond “normal” perform-ance limits for decades now.) His first loveaffair with a computer peripheral blossomed
in 1984 when he bought his lightning-fast
300 Bps modem for his Atari 400 — and now
he spends entirely too much time on the Internet and drinks far too muchcaffeine-laden soda
His favorite pastimes include collecting gargoyles, following St Louis
Cardinals baseball, playing his three pinball machines and the latest puter games, supercharging computers, and rendering 3-D flights of fancywith TrueSpace — and during all that, he listens to just about every type ofmusic imaginable (For those of his readers who are keeping track, he’s up
com-to 1,200+ audio CDs in his collection.)
With a degree in journalism and creative writing from Louisiana State
University, Mark took the logical career choice and started programmingcomputers However, after five years as a COBOL programmer for a hospitalsystem, he decided that there must be a better way to earn a living, and hebecame the Documentation Manager for Datastorm Technologies, a well-known communications software developer Somewhere in between organiz-ing and writing software manuals, Mark began writing computer books; his
first book, Running a Perfect BBS, was published in 1994.
Along with writing several books a year and editing whatever his publishersthrow at him, Mark has recently branched out into Web-based education,
designing and teaching a number of online classes — called WebClinics — for
Hewlett-Packard
Mark’s rapidly expanding list of books includes Building a PC For Dummies, Scanners For Dummies, CD and DVD Recording For Dummies, Mac OS X All-in- One Desk Reference For Dummies, Microsoft Office v X Power User’s Guide, BURN IT! Creating Your Own Great DVDs and CDs, The Hewlett-Packard Official Printer Handbook, The Hewlett-Packard Official Recordable CD Handbook, The Hewlett-Packard Official Digital Photography Handbook, Computer Gamer’s Bible, Recordable CD Bible, Teach Yourself the iMac Visually, Running a Perfect BBS, Official Netscape Guide to Web Animation, and the Windows 98
Troubleshooting and Optimizing Little Black Book.
Trang 4His books have been translated into 12 different languages so far — hisfavorites are German, Polish, Dutch, and French Although he can’t readthem, he enjoys the pictures a great deal.
Mark welcomes all comments and questions about his books — you canreach him at mark@mlcbooks.comor visit him at MLC Books Online (his Website) at www.mlcbooks.com
Trang 5First, my appreciation to my technical editor, Vinay Veeramachaneni, whospent weeks checking every fact and verifying every menu choice in thisbook I do a lot of technical editing myself, and I can tell you that it’s nosimple task to wade through this many chapters it takes a combination oflong nights and lots of soda.
This is my second All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies volume, and again,
the Wiley Composition Services team has outdone itself in designing andpreparing the material All the beautiful formatting in this book (includingevery single figure and screen shot, all the step-by-step procedures, and theregular appearances of Mark’s Maxims) is a testament to this team’s hardwork
As with all my books, I’d like to thank my wife, Anne, and my children, Erin,Chelsea, and Rose, for their support and love — and for letting me follow mydream!
And I won’t forget the support, the patience, and the guidance of TiffanyFranklin, my Acquisitions Editor, and Linda Morris, my Project Editor Tiffany,
I hope I kept any headaches to a minimum, even with a tome this size AndLinda, you deserve a parade for helping me deliver two monster books in arow! My heartfelt thanks to you both
What can I tell you about the best copy editor on the planet? Teresa Artmanscrutinized the entire manuscript with the perfect combination of tenacityand precision and as a result, you can actually understand what I wastrying to communicate Her humor and invaluable editing skills are reflected
in every paragraph of this book, and she should run for President!
Trang 6Publisher’s Acknowledgments
We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.
Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:
Acquisitions, Editorial, and
Media Development
Project Editor: Linda D Morris
Associate Acquisitions Editor:
Tiffany D Franklin
Senior Copy Editor: Teresa Artman
Technical Editor: Vinay Veeramachaneni
Editorial Manager: Kevin Kirschner
Senior Permissions Editor: Carmen Krikorian
Media Development Supervisor:
Richard Graves
Editorial Assistant: Amanda Foxworth
Cartoons: Rich Tennant
(www.the5thwave.com)
Production
Project Coordinator: Nancee Reeves,
Dale White
Layout and Graphics: Karl Brandt,
Amanda Carter, Brian Drumm, Lauren Goddard, Joyce Haughey, Stephanie D Jumper, Michael Kruzil, Kristin McMullan, Tiffany Muth, Shelley Norris, Ron Terry, Julie Trippetti
Proofreaders: Andy Hollandbeck, Betty Kish,
Susan Moritz, Carl William Pierce, Kathy Simpson, Brian H Walls
Indexer: Anne Leach
Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies
Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher
Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher
Mary C Corder, Editorial Director
Publishing for Consumer Dummies
Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher
Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director
Composition Services
Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services
Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services
Trang 7Contents at a Glance
Introduction 1
Book I: PC Hardware 7
Chapter 1: Starting with the Basics 9
Chapter 2: Additional Toys Your PC Will Enjoy 23
Chapter 3: Connectors, Ports, and Sundry Openings 41
Chapter 4: Maintaining Your Hardware 49
Book II: Windows XP 63
Chapter 1: Shake Hands with Windows XP 65
Chapter 2: The Many Windows of Windows 85
Chapter 3: Windows XP Basics 105
Chapter 4: Customizing Windows XP 131
Chapter 5: Maintaining the XP Beast 161
Chapter 6: Taking Control of the Control Panel 185
Chapter 7: Easy XP Troubleshooting 213
Book III: The Internet 227
Chapter 1: Making Sense of the Internet 229
Chapter 2: Adding a Dialup Connection to Windows XP 243
Chapter 3: Protecting Your Internet Privacy 251
Chapter 4: Cruising the Web with Internet Explorer 263
Chapter 5: Harnessing Your E-Mail 281
Chapter 6: Instant Messaging Done Right 303
Book IV: Microsoft Works 317
Chapter 1: An Overview of Works 319
Chapter 2: Word Processing in Works 329
Chapter 3: Working with Spreadsheets 345
Chapter 4: Using the Works Calendar 361
Chapter 5: Having Fun with Works Database 373
Book V: Office XP 385
Chapter 1: Introducing Office XP 387
Chapter 2: Using Word 399
Chapter 3: Putting Excel to Work 429
Trang 8Chapter 4: Performing with PowerPoint 455
Chapter 5: Doing Database Magic with Access 481
Chapter 6: Staying in Touch with Outlook 499
Book VI: Fun with Movies, Music, and Photos 523
Chapter 1: Scanning with Gusto 525
Chapter 2: Dude, MP3 Rocks! 545
Chapter 3: Making Movies with Your PC 559
Chapter 4: I Can Make My Own DVDs? 579
Chapter 5: I’m Okay, You’re a Digital Camera 599
Book VII: Upgrading and Supercharging 617
Chapter 1: Determining What to Upgrade 619
Chapter 2: Adding RAM to Your Hot Rod 627
Chapter 3: Scotty, I Need More Power! 633
Chapter 4: Adding Hard Drive Territory to Your System 641
Chapter 5: Partying with USB, FireWire, and Hubs 651
Chapter 6: Pumping Up Your Sound and Video 657
Book VIII: Home Networking 665
Chapter 1: Do I Really Need a Network? 667
Chapter 2: Ethernet to the Rescue 675
Chapter 3: Going Wireless 697
Chapter 4: Sharing Your Internet Connection 711
Index 725
Trang 9Table of Contents
Introduction 1
What’s Really Required 1
What’s Not Required 2
About This Book 2
Conventions Used in This Book 2
Stuff that you type 2
Menu commands 3
Display messages 3
How This Book Is Organized 3
Book I: PC Hardware 3
Book II: Windows XP 3
Book III: The Internet 3
Book IV: Microsoft Works 4
Book V: Office XP 4
Book VI: Fun with Movies, Music, and Photos 4
Book VII: Upgrading and Supercharging 4
Book VIII: Home Networking 4
Icons Used in This Book 4
Book I: PC Hardware 7
Chapter 1: Starting with the Basics 9
Defining Basic Terms 9
Hardware 10
Software 11
Peripherals 12
The Common Components of a Desktop PC 13
The computer 14
The monitor 16
The keyboard and mouse 16
Speakers 18
Desktop PCs versus Laptop PCs 18
RAM and Processors: The Keys to Performance 19
Your Friend, Your Operating System 20
Chapter 2: Additional Toys Your PC Will Enjoy 23
Printers 24
Inkjet versus laser printers 24
Photo printers 26
Label printers 27
Scanners 28
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Keyboards, Tablets, and Pointing Things 30
Tickling keys wirelessly 30
Putting a tablet to work 30
Repeat after me: Buy a trackball! 31
Big-Time Game Controllers 32
Video and Digital Cameras 33
External Drives 35
Portable hard drives and CD/DVD recorders 35
Backup drives 37
USB flash drives 37
Surge Protectors and UPS Units 38
Chapter 3: Connectors, Ports, and Sundry Openings 41
Using USB Stuff 41
Riding in the Fast Lane with FireWire 43
Your Antique Serial Port 44
The Once-Renowned Parallel Port 44
Meet Your Video Port 45
Audio Connectors You’ll Likely Need 46
Keyboard and Mouse Ports on Parade 47
Chapter 4: Maintaining Your Hardware 49
When Should I Move My PC? 49
Avoiding Dust Bunnies 50
Watching Your Cables 51
Cleaning Monitors and Scanners 52
Cleaning Your Mouse and Keyboard 53
Cleaning and Maintaining Your Printer 54
Cleaning laser printers 54
Changing inkjet cartridges 56
Calibrating your printer 57
Cleaning inkjet cartridges 60
Should you refill used inkjet cartridges? 60
Book II: Windows XP 63
Chapter 1: Shake Hands with Windows XP 65
Why Windows XP, Anyway? 66
Shutting Things Down 67
Shutting down completely 67
Restarting your PC 68
Using standby mode 68
Yes, your PC can hibernate 69
Logging off 69
Your Windows XP Controls 70
Icons 70
That constantly changing cursor 70
Trang 11Table of Contents xi
The Start menu 72
The taskbar 73
Menus and toolbars 75
Using Bill’s Funky Keys 76
The Windows keys 77
The Shortcut key 77
Other PC-specific keys 78
Using the Windows XP Help System 78
Displaying Help 79
Searching for specific help 80
Yelling for assistance 82
Chapter 2: The Many Windows of Windows 85
Managing Windows Means Productivity 85
Opening and closing windows 86
Scrolling windows 87
Minimizing and restoring windows 89
Maximizing and restoring windows 90
Moving windows 90
Resizing windows 91
Switching windows 91
A Field Guide to Icons 92
Hardware icons 93
Program icons 94
File icons 94
Folder icon 96
Shortcut icons 96
System icons 98
Selecting Icons 99
Selecting a single icon 99
Selecting multiple contiguous icons by dragging 100
Selecting multiple contiguous icons by clicking 100
Selecting multiple separated icons by clicking 100
Using the Toolbar 102
Chapter 3: Windows XP Basics 105
Running Applications from the Start Menu 106
Running Applications from Your Hard Drive 107
Running Applications from a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM 108
Exiting a Program 109
Putting Your Files in Order 110
Copying and moving stuff 110
Creating a new folder 113
Deleting stuff with mouse and keyboard 113
Displaying properties 113
Renaming items 114
Emptying the Recycle Bin 115
Recovering Items from the Recycle Bin 116
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Putting the Start Menu through Its Paces 117
Tossing the Recent Applications list 117
Using the Run item 118
Accessing printers and faxes 119
Working with your network 121
Configuring the Start menu 122
Handling the Taskbar 123
Switching programs 123
Controlling the notification area 124
Adding Quick Launch icons 125
Configuring the taskbar 126
Terminating a Program with Prejudice 127
Formatting a Floppy Disk 128
Chapter 4: Customizing Windows XP 131
Personalizing Your Desktop 132
Changing the background 132
Using themes 133
Changing system sounds 134
Switching Views and Sorting Items 135
Adjusting toolbars 137
Using the Explorer bar 138
And don’t forget the Folders view! 140
What’s This Stuff in the My Documents Folder? 141
Share the Documents 143
Using Favorites 143
Adding a favorite 144
Organizing favorites 144
Creating a Shortcut 145
Multiuser Operation 146
Logging in 147
Be my guest 148
Fax Me, Please 149
Setting up faxing under Windows XP 149
Sending and receiving faxes 151
Doing the Multimedia Thing 152
Playing your MP3 files 153
Viewing and downloading digital photographs 154
Recording your own CDs 156
Watching a DVD movie 158
Chapter 5: Maintaining the XP Beast 161
Device Manager: The Hardware Tool 161
Checking Your Hard Drives in Windows XP 164
Defragmenting Just Plain Rocks 167
Be Smart: Back Up Your Stuff 170
Safeguarding Your System with System Restore 174
Have At Thee, Foul Virus! 177
Trang 13Table of Contents xiii
Windows XP Boot and Recovery Options 178
Using Safe mode 179
Using the Last Good Configuration 179
Using ASR 180
Using Windows Update 181
The fully automatic way 181
The (somewhat) manual way 182
Chapter 6: Taking Control of the Control Panel 185
But First, Put the Control Panel on the Start Menu! 186
Configuring the Date and Time 188
The Time Zone tab 188
The Internet Time tab 188
Changing Display Settings 189
The Themes tab 189
The Desktop tab 190
The Screen Saver tab 190
The Appearance tab 191
The Settings tab 192
Scheduling Tasks 193
Adjusting the Power Options 195
The Power Schemes tab 196
The Advanced tab 197
The Hibernate tab 197
The UPS tab 197
Tweaking the Keyboard 198
The Speed tab 198
The Hardware tab 199
Adjusting Thy Mouse 199
Configuring Internet Properties 200
The General tab 201
The Security tab 202
The Privacy tab 202
The Content tab 203
The Connections tab 204
The Programs tab 205
The Advanced tab 206
Adding or Removing Programs 206
Fine-Tuning User Accounts 208
Configuring Phone and Modem Options 210
The Dialing Rules tab 210
The Modems tab 211
The Advanced tab 211
Chapter 7: Easy XP Troubleshooting 213
Relax and Breathe Easy 213
The Troubleshooting Process, Step by Step 215
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Drastic Things That You Won’t Do Often 221
Using Automated System Recovery 221
Re-installing Windows XP 222
HELP! Additional Troubleshooting Resources 223
The Windows XP Help system 224
Microsoft tech support 224
The Microsoft Web site 225
Those unsupported newsgroups 225
Book III: The Internet 227
Chapter 1: Making Sense of the Internet 229
Exactly What Is the Internet, Anyway? 229
Exploring the Possibilities of Your Internet Connection 231
Exploring the potential of the Web 231
Communicating via e-mail 233
File transferring via FTP 234
Communicating with instant messaging 235
Reading newsgroups 235
Using Web cams and Web videoconferencing 237
Understanding Internet Connections 238
Dialup connections 238
ISDN connections 238
DSL connections 239
Cable modem connections 239
Satellite connections 240
So What Exactly Do I Need? 241
Chapter 2: Adding a Dialup Connection to Windows XP 243
Gathering the Incantations 243
Making the Physical Connection 244
Creating a New Connection in Windows XP 245
Is My Connection Alive? 249
My Connection Appears to Be Dead 249
Chapter 3: Protecting Your Internet Privacy 251
So What Can Really Happen? 251
Common Sense Goes a Long Way 253
Passwords 253
Risky behavior 254
E-mail 256
Your Friend, the Firewall 257
Using the built-in XP firewall 259
Commercial firewall alternatives 260
Using Antivirus Software 261
Trang 15Table of Contents xv
Chapter 4: Cruising the Web with Internet Explorer 263
Running Internet Explorer 263
The Explorer Window and Basic Controls 264
More buttons for your buck 266
Finding a home page 268
Navigating the Web 269
Simplifying surfing with Favorites 269
Searching for the hay in the needlestack 271
Downloading Files 273
Keeping Track of Where You’ve Been 276
Printing and Saving Web Pages 277
Putting the Web in print 277
Saving the best (for last) 278
Chapter 5: Harnessing Your E-Mail 281
Introducing the Outlook Express Window 282
Setting Up Your Mailbox 285
The Three R’s: Receiving, Reading, and Replying 288
Sending E-Mail to Friends and Enemies 291
Sending and Receiving File Attachments 294
Spam: I Hate It! Truly I Do! 296
Working with the Address Book 298
“Hey, Who Are You Now?” 301
Chapter 6: Instant Messaging Done Right 303
Selecting a Chat Client 303
AIM 304
ICQ 305
Running Windows Messenger 306
Configuring Windows Messenger 307
Keeping Track of Friends and Family 309
Chatting with Your Brethren 311
Selecting a Status 314
Squelching the Unwelcome Few 315
Book IV: Microsoft Works 317
Chapter 1: An Overview of Works 319
What Can I Do with Works? 319
Word processing 320
Spreadsheets 321
Calendar 322
To Dos 322
Databases 324
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Introducing the Task Launcher 325
Displaying Help within Works 326
Chapter 2: Word Processing in Works 329
Running the Word Processor 329
Your Word Processing Tools 330
Typing Text 331
Selecting and Editing Text 332
Finding and Replacing Stuff 333
Formatting Fonts and Paragraphs 335
Formatting Bullets and Numbered Lists 337
Adding Graphics 338
Adding Tables 340
Checking Your Spelling 341
Printing Your Documents 342
Chapter 3: Working with Spreadsheets 345
Running the Spreadsheet 345
Introducing the Spreadsheet Window 346
A Word about Works Spreadsheets 347
Navigating the Spreadsheet and Entering Data 348
Selecting and Editing Cells 349
Formatting a Cell, Row, or Column 350
Choosing a number format 351
Changing cell alignment 351
Changing the text formatting 352
Formatting the borders 352
Choosing shading options 353
Inserting and Deleting Rows and Columns 354
Using Easy Calc 354
Adding a Chart 357
Printing Your Documents 358
Chapter 4: Using the Works Calendar 361
Checking Out the Calendar 362
Selecting a Calendar View 363
Adding and Editing Appointments 365
Searching for Specific Appointments 367
Filtering Appointments 368
Exporting Appointments 369
Printing Appointments 371
Chapter 5: Having Fun with Works Database 373
Getting Started with Works Database 374
Whoops! What’s this dialog box mean? 374
Elements of the Works Database window 374
Trang 17Table of Contents xvii
Creating a Database and Entering Data 376
Editing a Database 380
Sorting and Searching for Specific Records 380
Building Reports 381
Printing Database Documents 384
Book V: Office XP 385
Chapter 1: Introducing Office XP 387
The Components of Office XP 387
Word 388
Excel 390
PowerPoint 391
Access 392
Outlook 394
Putting the Office Clipboard to Work 396
Using the Office Help System 397
Displaying the Help system 397
The three tabs of justice 398
That silly paper clip, Clippit 398
Chapter 2: Using Word 399
Running Word 400
The Elements of Word 400
A Word about the Views 403
Normal view 403
Outline view 403
Print Layout view 404
Web Layout view 404
Typing, Selecting, and Editing Text 405
Typing like the wind 405
Selecting what you will 406
Editing text in Word 407
Finding and Replacing Stuff 408
Building Tables 410
Adding Bulleted and Numbered Lists 412
Adjusting Tabs and Margins 413
Setting margins with the ruler 413
Setting margins from the menu 414
Setting tabs with the ruler 415
Setting tabs from the menu 415
Applying Formatting 416
Font formatting 417
Paragraph formatting 418
Using AutoFormat 419
Adding Graphics 421
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Doing the Collaboration Thing 423
Using revision marks 423
Using Comments 424
Using highlighting 425
Printing Your Document 425
Creating Web Pages with Word 426
Chapter 3: Putting Excel to Work 429
Running Excel 430
Waltzing Around the Excel Window 430
Selecting, Entering, and Editing Cell Data 432
Filling a cell to the top 432
Moving around the worksheet 433
Selecting cells the easy way 433
Editing cell contents 434
Working with Numbers and Dates 435
Working with Rows and Columns 437
Resizing rows and columns 437
Inserting blank cells 438
Inserting cells from the Clipboard 439
Inserting rows and columns 439
Formatting in Excel 440
Font formatting 440
Cell alignment 441
Changing borders and shading 441
The Basics of Excel Formulas 442
Working with Graphics in Excel 446
Adding a Chart 447
Linking Cells 450
Adding Headers and Footers 451
Printing Your Worksheets 452
Chapter 4: Performing with PowerPoint 455
Getting Your Bearings in PowerPoint 455
Changing Views 458
Normal view 458
Slide Sorter view 458
Notes Page view 459
Slide Show view 459
Creating Slides 460
Inserting slides 461
Inserting a document 462
Typing, Selecting, and Editing Text 462
Adding text 463
Moving within text fields 463
Selecting text and objects 464
Editing text 465
Moving slide elements 465
Trang 19Table of Contents xix
Installing Graphics in Your Slides 466
Applying Templates and Schemes 467
Entering Notes 470
Using Movies and Sound 471
Building and Running a Slide Show 472
Making a Transition ’twixt Slides 475
Using Pack and Go 476
Printing Your Document 479
Chapter 5: Doing Database Magic with Access 481
Running Access 482
A Quick Tour of the Access Window 482
Creating Tables with the Wizard 484
Creating a Form with the Wizard 488
Entering and Editing Fields Manually 493
Using Queries 494
Using Access Templates 496
Printing Your Data 496
Chapter 6: Staying in Touch with Outlook 499
Running Outlook 500
Elements of the Outlook Window 500
Configuring Your Mail Account 502
Reading and Replying to E-Mail 505
Composing and Sending Messages 508
Using File Attachments 510
Keeping Track of Your Contacts 512
Entering a contact 513
Editing a contact 515
Using the Outlook Calendar 515
Creating an appointment 516
Displaying appointments in Outlook Today 518
Printing within Outlook 519
Book VI: Fun with Movies, Music, and Photos 523
Chapter 1: Scanning with Gusto 525
What Happens Inside a Scanner? 525
Your Friend, the Flatbed 527
Popular Scanner Features 529
Basic Scanning with Paint Shop Pro 530
Acquiring the image 530
Rotating and cropping images 535
Converting and saving the image 537
Scanning Do’s and Don’ts 539
Those Irritating (Or Invaluable) Copyrights 540
Adding a Copyright Line 541
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Chapter 2: Dude, MP3 Rocks! 545
An MP3 Primer 546
Ripping Your Own MP3 Files 547
Listening to Your Stuff 550
Downloading to an MP3 Player 552
Using Other Sound Formats 553
WAV format 554
WMA format 554
AU format 554
AIFF format 554
MIDI format 555
Burning Audio CDs from MP3 Files 555
Chapter 3: Making Movies with Your PC 559
Getting the Lowdown on ArcSoft’s ShowBiz 559
Rounding Up Clips and Images 561
Building Your First Movie 563
Adding Transitions without Breaking a Sweat 566
Adding Special Effects without Paying George Lucas 568
Adding Sound 570
You’ve Just Gotta Have Titles! 571
Previewing Your Oscar-Winning Work 573
Saving and Burning Before Traveling to Cannes 574
Creating a digital video file on your hard drive 574
Recording your own CD or DVD 576
Chapter 4: I Can Make My Own DVDs? 579
Welcome to MyDVD 580
Menus ’R Easy! 582
Changing the Look of Your Menus 589
Trimming Movies with Panache 591
Time to Preview 594
Burning Your DVD and Celebrating Afterwards 596
Chapter 5: I’m Okay, You’re a Digital Camera 599
How Does a Digital Camera Work? 600
The Pros and Cons of Digital Photography 602
Digital Camera Extras to Covet 605
External card readers 605
Rechargeable batteries 606
Lenses 606
Tripods 607
The Lazy Man’s Guide to Composing Photographs 607
The Rule of Thirds 608
The Rule of Asymmetry 608
Using lighting creatively 610
Organizing Your Pictures 612
Downloading Your Images 613
Trang 21Table of Contents xxi
Book VII: Upgrading and Supercharging 617
Chapter 1: Determining What to Upgrade 619
Making Performance Upgrades: CPU, Motherboard, and Memory 620
Upgrading your CPU and motherboard 620
Adding memory 621
Expansion Upgrades: USB 2.0 and FireWire 621
Making Storage Upgrades: Internal and External Drives 622
Adding a hard drive 623
Adding a recorder or a tape drive 623
Making Sound and Video Upgrades: Sound and Video Cards 624
Sound cards on parade 625
Deciding which video card is right for you 625
Chapter 2: Adding RAM to Your Hot Rod 627
Figuring Out What Type of Memory You Need 627
RDRAM 628
DDR 628
SDRAM 628
EDO 628
Deciding How Much RAM Is Enough 629
Installing Extra RAM 630
Chapter 3: Scotty, I Need More Power! 633
Hey, Do I Need to Do This? 633
Selecting a New Motherboard 635
Installing a Motherboard and CPU 635
Installing an Athlon XP or Pentium 4 CPU 636
Installing your motherboard 638
Chapter 4: Adding Hard Drive Territory to Your System 641
The Tale of Virtual Memory 641
Recognizing a Well-Dressed Hard Drive 643
Size definitely does matter 643
How fast is your access? 644
What does rpm have to do with hard drives? 644
Internal versus External Storage 644
Adding a Second Internal Hard Drive 646
Chapter 5: Partying with USB, FireWire, and Hubs 651
Comparing USB Ports 651
I Vote for FireWire 653
Or Do You Just Need a Hub? 653
Installing a Port Card 654
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Chapter 6: Pumping Up Your Sound and Video 657
Sound Card Features to Covet 6573-D spatial imaging 657Surround sound support 658MP3 hardware support 659Game and FireWire ports 659MIDI ports 659Shopping for a Monster Graphics Card 660Pray, what slot do you need? 660Exploring the differences between chipsets 661Other video card features that you’ll want 662Installing Sound and Video Cards 663
Book VIII: Home Networking 665
Chapter 1: Do I Really Need a Network? 667
Discovering the Advantages of a Network 667File transfer 667Sharing that there Internet 668One word: Games! 669Shared documents and applications 670What Can I Connect To? 670What Hardware Do I Need? 671What Software Do I Need? 672
To Network or Not to Network 672
Chapter 2: Ethernet to the Rescue 675
A Quickie Ethernet Primer 675Hardware That You’ll Need 677Cables 677Hubs 679NICs 679Switches 680Heck, let’s buy a kit! 680Doing the Cable Dance 680Configuring Windows XP for Your Network 681
Ah, sweet DHCP 682Browsing the neighborhood 686Sharing folders and documents 688Printing Across the Network 689Using a Standard Hub with a Cable or DSL Modem 693Troubleshooting Your Network 693Windows XP doesn’t recognize my NIC 694
No lights show up on my network card(s) or hub 694Nothing shows up when I browse 695
I can’t connect (or print) to a shared printer 695
Trang 23Table of Contents xxiii
Chapter 3: Going Wireless 697
Understanding Wireless Networking 697How does wireless compare with wired? 698The standards involved 699
AC and phone line networking 703Ensuring Security on Your Wireless Network 704Using Wireless Hardware in Windows XP 706Preparing to install 706Installation tricks 706Making the connection 708
Chapter 4: Sharing Your Internet Connection 711
Why Share Your Internet Connection? 711Sharing through Software in Windows XP 712Sharing through Hardware 714Wired sharing devices 715Wireless sharing devices 718Why You Need NAT 720The Magic of Virtual Private Networking 721
Index 725
Trang 24PCs All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, 2nd Edition
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Trang 25What’s the definition of a reference book? Well, I like to think of this
book as a snapshot Sure, it’s a very heavy photograph, weighing in
at over 700 pages — but nevertheless, it captures the current state oftoday’s PCs, including hardware, the most popular applications, and ofcourse, the latest and greatest incarnation of the Windows operating systemthat we all cherish (in this case, Windows XP Home and Professional).That covers a lot of ground, especially when you consider how the PC hasbranched out into all sorts of new directions in the last few years Whatused to be primarily a simple word processing platform in the early days ofDOS has now become a hub for digital video and CD-quality audio, an opti-cal recording center, an Internet communications system, a digital dark-room, a 3-D gaming console, an office productivity center the list goes onand on Therefore, fitting the features and functionality of today’s PCs into asingle volume was a challenge for me — and it proved singularly rewarding
as well because PCs are both my career and my favorite hobby!
With that comprehensive approach in mind, this book still holds true to the
For Dummies format: step-by-step instructions on each major feature within
Windows XP, Microsoft Office, and other popular PC applications, with alittle personal opinion, my recommendations, and my attempts at humormixed in to add spice I take the time to explain each topic for those whohave just entered the PC universe, but you’ll uncover plenty of advancedinformation as well With this book in hand, you can set up a wireless net-work, navigate an Excel spreadsheet, diagnose hardware problems, andeven work magic with your digital camera
I sincerely hope that you enjoy this book and that it will help open up thecountless possibilities offered by your PC Thanks to the efforts of all thosesoftware developers, engineers, and hardware manufacturers, you and I get
to play!
What’s Really Required
Here’s a short section for you — you need a PC, preferably running
Windows XP
(I told you it was short.)
Trang 26What’s Not Required
2
What’s Not Required
If you’ve read any of my earlier books, you already know the score But just
in case you haven’t (hint, hint), here’s the list of what you won’t be needing:
✦ A degree in computer science: Computers are supposed to be easy I
like ’em that way, and I get very testy when faced with anyone who tries
to make a PC artificially complex ’Nuff said
✦ All sorts of expensive software: Because Microsoft Office is so doggone
popular, it’s included here — but virtually everything else is eitherincluded in Windows XP or is cheap to get
✦ An Internet connection: Some folks should be reminded that PCs are
quite productive by themselves Naturally, you need an Internet
connec-tion to use Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, but you don’t have
to be online to enjoy your computer.
About This Book
Each of the eight mini-books in this Desk Reference squarely addresses a cific topic, and there’s no need to read this whole book in a linear fashion Youcertainly can, if you like, but it’s not necessary Instead, each mini-book (and
spe-on a lower level, each individual chapter) has been designed to be self cspe-on-tained You can jump from chapter to chapter, pursuing information on what
con-you’re working on right now — and happy in the knowledge that when you do
decide to invest in a digital camera (or a scanner or a memory upgrade), it’scovered!
Conventions Used in This Book
Like other For Dummies books, this volume uses a helpful set of conventions
to indicate what needs to be done or what you’ll see onscreen
Stuff that you type
When I ask you to type something, like a command or an entry in a text box,the text appears like this:
Type me
Press the Return key to process the entry
Trang 27How This Book Is Organized 3
This is a message displayed by an application
How This Book Is Organized
Time for a quick summary of what’s included in those eight mini-books(with cross references where appropriate, included at great expense)
Book I: PC Hardware
It’s not a PC without the hardware In this mini-book, I discuss both thestandard equipment (like your monitor, keyboard, and mouse) and optionalthings that you can attach (like a scanner or a game controller) I also coverthe different ports on your PC and the proper methods of maintaining your
PC hardware
Book II: Windows XP
A mini-book for the XP generation — with everything that you need to knowabout today’s most popular PC operating system, including the basics,advanced customizing topics, the included applications, maintenance, and
(insert ominous chord here) troubleshooting.
Book III: The Internet
The obligatory Internet stuff fills this mini-book Discover how to navigatethe Web, block that infernal spam from your e-mail, fritter away countlesshours with instant messaging, and — most important — keep yourselfsecure while you’re online
Trang 28Icons Used in This Book
4
Book IV: Microsoft Works
Most people call Works “the programs I got with my PC.” But as you cover in this mini-book, there’s no shortage of features or functionalitywithin Works (even though it’s usually overshadowed by the behemoththat is Microsoft Office) You’ll find out how to use each of the Worksapplications and how to use them in tandem to accomplish tasks
dis-Book V: Office XP
Okay, so I decided to cover the behemoth as well Microsoft Office prises Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook — and the gang’s allhere, with each application covered in a separate chapter If you use Office,you’ll treasure this mini-book — if not, you’ll still enjoy it as a spellbindingwork of nonfiction (Sure, Mark.)
com-Book VI: Fun with Movies, Music, and Photos
Your PC is now a digital, multimedia production center — and a great nation for watching video and listening to music, to boot In this mini-book,
combi-I show you the latest cutting-edge fun that you can have with your DV corder, your MP3 player, and your digital camera wait until you showyour home movies on DVD!
cam-Book VII: Upgrading and Supercharging
The gloves come off in this mini-book: If you’re hankering to turn the cornerand become a PC power user, use these chapters to help you upgrade yourPC’s hardware, including your system RAM, your CPU and motherboard,your graphics card, and even external connections like USB 2.0 and
FireWire “To the Batcave!”
Book VIII: Home Networking
The final mini-book is devoted to one of the fastest-growing segments ofthe PC population — those folks who are adding a home (or small office)network In these chapters, I demonstrate how to install your own wired net-work as well as how to expand with the latest wireless technology Then Iturn your attention to security so that you can use your network withoutfear of intrusion
Icons Used in This Book
In a book stuffed to the gills with icons, my editors have decided to use —
you guessed it — more icons Luckily, however, the book’s icon set acts as
visual signposts for specific stuff that you don’t want to miss
Trang 29Icons Used in This Book 5
A Tip icon points to a sentence or two that might save you time, trouble,and quite possibly cash as well
Consider these tidbits completely optional, but if you’re captivated bythings technical — as I am — you’ll find trivia of interest here (A good fea-ture for those who enjoy cutaway drawings of the Titanic and those whoactually know what JPEG means.)
Speaking of the Titanic, always read the information next to this icon first!
Your PC is usually a very safe harbor, but icebergs can appear from time totime if you’re not careful
As you might expect from its name, this icon highlights stuff that you mightwant to, well, remember
Trang 30PCs All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies, 2nd Edition
6
Trang 31Book I
PC Hardware
Trang 32Contents at a Glance
Chapter 1: Starting with the Basics 9 Chapter 2: Additional Toys Your PC Will Enjoy 23 Chapter 3: Connectors, Ports, and Sundry Openings 41 Chapter 4: Maintaining Your Hardware 49
Trang 33Chapter 1: Starting with the Basics
In This Chapter
Defining hardware, software, and peripherals
Identifying the common components of all PCs
Comparing laptop and desktop PCs
Understanding RAM and your PC’s CPU
Defining the operating system
If your name is Hemingway or Faulkner or King, the first chapter is always
the toughest to write For me, however, this chapter will be fun to writebecause it tackles the basic questions, such as what components make upyour PC and why you need an operating system You’ll discover more aboutthe specific parts of your PC that determine how fast it is, and I also discussthe pros and cons of choosing a laptop over a desktop PC
If you’re a hardware technician or a PC power user, you might decide toeschew these basic concepts and move on and that’s okay But if you’renew to the world of IBM personal computers or you’re going to buy yourfirst PC, this chapter is a great place to start In fact, you’d be amazed byhow many folks I talk to who have owned a PC for a year or two and stilldon’t know some of the terms that you’ll read here!
Here’s the first Mark’s Maxim for this book:
It takes a solid foundation to build a power user.
So read on!
Defining Basic Terms
My high school chemistry teacher, a learned man whom I have alwaysadmired (even then), always told us, “Never jump into anything before defin-ing your terms.” (Thanks, Mr Owen Because of you, I succeeded in notblowing myself to pieces!)
Trang 34Defining Basic Terms
Hardware
In the PC world, hardware is any piece of circuitry or any component of your
computer that has a physical structure For example, your computer’s tor is a piece of hardware, as is your PC’s floppy disk drive Even those com-ponents that you normally can’t see or touch — the ones that are buriedinside your case — are considered hardware, too, like your PC’s mother-board and power supply (And yes, your computer’s case is technically apiece of hardware as well, although it’s not electrical.)
moni-Figure 1-1 illustrates a common piece of hardware — in this case, a videocard with an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) connector
Trang 35Book I Chapter 1
Software
The other side of the PC coin is the software that you use Software refers to
any program that you run, whether it resides on your hard drive, a floppy
disk, a CD-ROM, or somewhere on a network
When you hear folks discussing a software upgrade, patch, or update, they’re
talking about (you guessed it) yet another piece of software! However, the
upgrade/patch/update program isn’t designed to be run more than once;
rather, its job is to apply the latest features, bug fixes, and data files to a
piece of software that’s already installed and running on your PC, updating
it to a new version (Virtually all software developers refer to successive
ver-sions of their software, such as Version 1.5 or Version 3; the later the version,
the more features that the software includes.)
Typically, think of software as an application that you buy or download,
such as Microsoft Works or Windows Media Player (see Figure 1-2)
However, the term software actually applies to any program, including
Windows itself and the driver programs that accompany the hardware that
you buy Unfortunately, computer viruses are software as well
Trang 36Defining Basic Terms
12
From time to time, you might see the word firmware in a magazine or on a
hardware manufacturer’s Web site This sounds like a strange beast, but I
can explain: Firmware is the software instructions that you find stored in
the internal memory or the internal brain of a piece of hardware, so it’s notquite software, and it’s not quite hardware For example, your CD or DVDrecorder has a firmware chip inside that controls the mundane tasks
required to burn a disc Generally, you won’t have to fool with firmware,but a manufacturer might release a firmware upgrade to fix bugs that havecropped up with a piece of hardware (or even add new features) To upgradefirmware, you run a software utility program supplied by the manufacturer
✦ Joysticks and other game controllers
✦ Network hardware such as Internet-sharing devices
✦ Scanners and digital cameras
And software might be cheap!
You’ll probably encounter two other types of
“ware”: freeware and shareware Freeware is
a program that’s either been released into the
public domain — in which case the author
gen-erally releases the programming code needed
to modify it or maintains the rights to it — but
you can still use it for free
Shareware, on the other hand, is not free: You
get to try it before you buy it; if you like it, you
send your payment directly to the author
Because there’s no middleperson (you won’tcatch me using a sexist term) and you’re notpaying for an expensive box or advertising,shareware is usually far cheaper than a similarcommercial program
Before using freeware or shareware, check tomake sure that the author offers regularupdates When you work for peanuts, you’re notgoing to be able to afford a Quality AssuranceDepartment or comprehensive beta testing!
Trang 37Book I Chapter 1
I should point out that three pieces of external hardware that are found on
every PC — your monitor, keyboard, and your mouse (or trackball or
touch-pad) — are generally not considered peripherals because they’re required to
operate your PC Call ’em hardware instead
Peripherals connect to your computer via the ports that are built into the
back (and often the front) of your PC I go into more detail on ports in
Chapter 3 of this mini-book; any PC power user worthy of the name will be
able to identify any common port on a computer on sight (If you’re a
hard-ware technician, you can identify them in the dark, like how a soldier knows
his weapon Don’t ask me why — I’m not at liberty to discuss it.)
The Common Components of a Desktop PC
“Aw, crikey look what we have here, mates! This little beaut is a PC —
step back now, mind ya, for if one of these digital guys goes bonkers, it’ll
spread itself all over yer bloomin’ desktop!”
Although a PC is hardly a crocodile, your system can grow like one — and it
can become just as unwieldy and tough to move Turn your attention to the
components that you’ll find equipped on just about any PC that you buy (or
assemble) these days
Trang 38The Common Components of a Desktop PC
✦ CPU (You’ll meet your PC’s actual CPU — which is a single integrated
chip — later in this chapter.)
✦ Chassis
✦ $*Q(#*$*!% (Reserved for special occasions.)
Consider thy form factor
Not all PCs are created equal; several different form factors are available
(Geez, yet another two-dollar word for a fifty-cent concept.) A form factor
determines the height and “spread” of your computer, depending on thecase (In the original days of the IBM PC, all computer cases were designed
to straddle your desk, parallel to the floor; however, folks soon realized that
a PC takes up far less room if it stands vertically.)
Your desktop PC’s case can look like any of the following:
✦ The standard tower machine: Because a tower case (see one in Figure
1-4) gives you the largest number of expansion bays and room for ple fans, they’re the case favored by PC power users and networkadministrators Tower cases are often placed on the floor because theyare sometimes too tall for your computer desk
multi-✦ The mini-tower machine: The standard case offered with most PCs, the
mini-tower is simply a shorter version of a tower case The mini-tower issuitable for home and standard office workstation use
✦ The lunchbox and pizza box machines: These are the smallest PC
cases of all, built for those areas where space is at a premium (or youknow ahead of time that expansion won’t be required in the future).These machines are often used in larger corporate offices, hospitals,banks, and the like Figure 1-5 shows a pizza box case, which sits flat onyour desktop rather than standing upright
Trang 39Book I Chapter 1
Custom colors are great (for a while, anyway)
You might be interested in buying a PC with a special color scheme
Typically, these machines are black or brushed aluminum, but I’ve seen
Turbo, power, and reset buttons
3 1/2-inch floppy drive bay
5 1/4-inch half-height bays
3 1/2-inch floppy baysPower, turbo, and reset buttons
Trang 40The Common Components of a Desktop PC
Of course, if you’re a Macintosh owner, all bets are off but that’s anotherbook entirely
The monitor
Today’s monitors come in two different varieties:
✦ The traditional CRT monitor: The cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor
is big, brassy, and less expensive to buy than a liquid crystal display(LCD) monitor, but it uses more electricity, gets hot while you use it,and emits all sorts of radiation (Nothing harmful, mind you, but it’sthere all the same.) Because CRT monitors use older technology that’ssimilar to a TV set, they’re bulky, but they’re also significantly cheaperthan an LCD monitor, especially at larger screen sizes such as 19" and21" Most CRT monitors are flat-screen models; older designs withcurved screens tended to distort the image that you see
✦ The LCD monitor: LCD monitors — also called flat-panel monitors —
share the same technology as laptop computer screens, so they’re verythin and use much, much less electricity than a CRT monitor (Many areeven designed to hang on the wall.) LCD screens emit neither heat norradiation In fact, the only downside to an LCD monitor is the price.Either type of monitor is fine for a home or office environment, but (natu-rally) I recommend an LCD monitor if you can afford one The larger themonitor size, the easier it’s likely to be on your eyes, and the more windowsand documents that you can stuff on your desktop at once
The keyboard and mouse
Keyboards are rather mundane Virtually all today’s models have theWindows-specific keys that will help any PC power user — but I still have asuggestion or two: